Posts Tagged With: know

Well, folks, we are on to the third last book of the year. One more month and we will have met a great goal of reading through the New Testament this year. The reading plan we are using takes us now to Peter’s second letter, out-of-order as we read 1 Peter a month ago or so. I am sure they have put 2 Peter here because of its many connections to the book of Jude. If you would like to review the short introduction the Petrine letters I wrote back when we came to 1 Peter, you can find that here.

What does it mean to know God? What is real spiritual knowledge?

As we will learn more about on Monday, there were false teachers in the churches Peter was addressing. Most people identify these as early versions of Gnostics, Christians who mixed their Christianity with significant doses of Greek philosophy and mystical kind of thinking. These dualists made a strong contrast between the flesh and the spirit and, given the emphasis in this chapter on moral purity, they often taught that one showed their spiritual strength by engaging in sin with the body so as to show that their spirits were pure enough to remain unaffected. Gnostics spoke often of having “knowledge,” which for them meant an intellectual and spiritual understanding that allowed them to rise above the mundane matters of physical life. These false teachers had definite ideas on what it meant to have “knowledge.”

But so did Peter. As he uses the word “knowledge” five times in this opening chapter and refers to “truth” and the “mind” as well, we know Peter wanted to weigh in on what true “knowledge” is. Knowledge gives us everything we need to live a godly life that runs away from the “corruption of lust” (1:3-4). Knowledge is one element necessary in living a fruitful life, a partner to character traits like virtue, patience, self-control, faith, and love (1:5-8). In short, for Peter “knowledge” is an embodied understanding and skill that allows its possessor to live an earthly, physical life in the nitty-gritty in a way that glorifies God and maintains a high level of moral quality. Knowledge is as much about the hands as the head. Knowledge is lived, not simply believed or thought. Truth is a lived, physical reality. That would be a definite contrast to Gnostic thinking.

God has bestowed upon us, through his divine power, everything that we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. (1:3)

Knowledge is a bit intoxicating. It is a powerful elixir that quickly convinces us we have it together much more than we really do. Those drunk of the power of the mind are every bit as dangerous as those drunk on booze.

Knowledge was especially important to the early Gnostics that had been influencing the churches John was addressing. As was pointed out yesterday, the name “Gnostic” comes from the Greek word for “knowledge.” This would appear to be your typical head-knowledge, the kind that satisfies if one simply knows the facts. A good Gnostic “knew” the truth about reality: physical flesh is evil, and true enlightenment comes by developing a spirit that is impervious to the effects of physical sin. The most “knowledgeable” one can wallow around in sin and come out unscathed.

However, John has a very different view:

This is how we are sure that we have known him, if we keep his commandments. Anyone who says, “I know him,” but doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar. People like that have no truth in them. . . . Anyone who says, “I am in the light,” while hating another family member, is still in darkness up to this very moment. (2:3-4, 9)

The kind of truth that John thinks is important is not simply head-knowledge. It is not enough to know facts and believe things to be true or not true. For John, truth is a lived reality. Knowledge is first and foremost lived out in the nitty-gritty of life. One shows their enlightenment by how they live, not how they think. One can claim to have spiritual enlightenment, but if actions do not exist that support that claim, one is still living in immense spiritual darkness. In particular, the selfless love of Christian community is the greatest testament to true enlightenment. Honoring God with a life that keeps his righteous decrees for life shows true knowledge. Knowledge teaches one to stay in the light with Jesus, not roll around in the darkness in sin.

When have you seen Christians today confused on what knowledge truly is?